"I could call them Labori, but that strikes me as a bit bookish."

June 24, 2007 7:28 PM

The play R.U.R. (or Rossum's Universal Robots) and the novel The War with the Newts, both by the redoubtable Karel Čapek.
posted by Iridic (8 comments total)

CAPEK and RUR: staples of crossword puzzles everywhere. These should be fun to read. Thanks.
posted by painquale at 7:46 PM on June 24, 2007

knowing about it for ages but never having the chance to read r.u.r, I have to say this is just lovely.

what surprises me is the style quite reminds me of saki or wilde, where I was expecting stanislaus lem. superb.
posted by dorian at 8:00 PM on June 24, 2007

I have never been able to read R.U.R. either.

Surreal, but wonderful.
posted by blacklite at 8:21 PM on June 24, 2007

Both are great reads. I'm glad to see them online.
posted by debgpi at 8:38 PM on June 24, 2007

these are two of my all time favourite stories. thanks for spreading to good word.
posted by kendrak at 10:33 PM on June 24, 2007

Yes, thanks! I am an admirer of Čapek.

(And yes, dorian, reminds me of Saki, as well.)
posted by trip and a half at 10:43 PM on June 24, 2007

I was in a production of "R.U.R." in college. I played the Cassandra-ish old-man scientist, even though I looked about 12 at the time. (Hair sprayed silver -- very convincing.) I had the embarassing task of delivering the last line of the play, spoken as a pair of male and female robots seem to have discovered the emotion that we humans call love: "Go, Adam, go Eve -- the world is yours." My friends sat in the audience and jeered at me. That said, there's something appealing -- if overwrought -- about the play.
posted by adgnyc at 7:43 AM on June 25, 2007

The War with the Newts
I can't read that without thinking "Fink-Nottle."
posted by Wolfdog at 7:29 PM on June 25, 2007 [1 favorite]